NOVEL NEXT chapter 17
17. Future Prediction 1
“First of all, let’s start with Uguisu.”
Tokiwa Uguisu. She’s a little older than me and seems to be a gentle and healing type. I think she might be a little weak against being shot because of the wrist-cutting incident, but I don’t feel like she’s aggressive, selfish, or yandere-like at all. If we got married, she might actually be a pretty good wife. She seems like the homely type.
“…”
The image is projected onto the projector. It seems to have started from when I came home to what seemed to be my house. I see, so I can watch it from a third-person perspective like a reenactment drama.
“Welcome home, my love.”
When I opened the front door, Uguisu, who had her long hair in a ponytail and was wearing an apron, came over with light and cheerful footsteps. The simple navy-colored dress and the white apron with a modest frill were elegant and cute, giving her the impression of a newlywed. Uguisu’s hasn’t changed that much appearance from now, so it doesn’t seem like a video from the distant future.
“My love, you must be tired from work today.”
By the way, the word “my love” sounds good. Uguisu takes my bag from me with a smile, but I, in a suit, don ‘t even say “I’m home” as expected.
“Hey, my love, please listen to me without getting mad. The Nadeshiko girls came again today… I’m scared. It seems like they still can’t forget about you.”
Momo and the others can’t forget about me? What kind of future is this?
“I’ve told them many times that Sora-san only loves me, that we’re already married, so they should stop coming over so casually. Sora-san is also troubled by being stalked… but even so, they keep coming to our house over and over again and harassing us.”
“…Stop it.”
This is the first time I’ve opened my mouth.
My own voice, which I heard through the video, was a little awkward, and it had a cold and cruel tone that didn’t feel like me. Uguisu looks at me with a pale face, but I don’t look back at her It’s an ominous atmosphere.
“Stop it already! I’m sick and tired of listening to your stories.”
Uguisu looks like she’s about to cry at the follow-up words.
“W-why are you saying such things? I haven’t done anything wrong. I’ve been enduring it for your sake… even today.”
“I don’t believe you anymore.”
What’s wrong with me, saying such terrible things…
“You think that if you act like a victim, I’ll be gentle with you, don’t you? Stop it already, I’ve reached my limit. I’m done dealing with your persecution complex .”
“That’s not a persecution complex… I’m really hurt, look?”
Uguisu puts her hand behind her back and unties the ribbon of her apron. The white cloth falls to the floor with a pasari sound. She then begins to unbutton the front of her navy-colored dress.
“…Look over here, my love.”
Uguisu’s body, which is exposed down to her waist from the navy-colored dress, is covered in bruises. It’s not just her arms; there are scratches on her chest, thin needle-like marks on her wrists, and many bruises on her abdomen Her pale skin reveals her ribs, and it’s clear that she’s not eating a healthy diet. Rather than the guilt or excitement of seeing an acquaintance in her underwear, I feel a sense of terror at her painful appearance.
“I got this wound today…”
Uguisu shows me a new cut on her abdomen as if it were a matter of course. Her appearance is not one of menahan menahan (enduring) pain, but rather one of ecstasy, as if she is caring the part of the wound that has not yet healed, slowly, as if to say that it is a mark of love.
“Look, here and… here too.”
On the screen, her wrist was covered in wounds, as if they were eczema. They were all parallel lines, red and swollen from self-harm, painted over the bluish-black bruises. There were so many that it wouldn’t have been strange for her to have died several times over.
Both I and the I on the screen were equally disgusted at the sight of her wounded body, and we both looked away from Uguisu. However, she didn’t care. She took off her dress and approached me.
“Look, look… I’m in so much pain. I’m suffering, I’m in agony, and you’re the only one I have! So tell me you love me! I can’t live without your love! Please, I love you more than anyone in the world, and as long as I have you, I can endure anything, so tell me you love me too! Tell me I’m still the most important thing to you, like you used to say!”
She showed me her wounds as if she were demanding her rights, but the I on the screen was fed up with it. He didn’t hug her or tell her he loved her.
“I can’t do it anymore.”
Instead, he rejected her.
“Huh?”
“I can’t be with you anymore, Uguisu.”
As he spoke his mind clearly, his expression was not one of anger or hatred, but of sadness and guilt, as if he had failed to save something precious.
“That’s…”
“It’s been strange from the beginning. You’re the only one who’s bullied for no reason, and you’re the only one who’s sent on difficult missions by the doctor because of discrimination. I’ve never seen a giant Shadow with the immense power you describe, and none of the other members know anything about it! There’s no evidence for any of the tragedies you talk about!”
My heart skipped a beat. Could it be that Uguisu’s words were all…
“That’s not true, the doctors who hate me are all working together to lie… It’s true, I love you. Please believe me, just me.”
I pushed away Uguisu, who was clinging to me, and breathtaking.
“Sigh… When you insisted we were married, I should have taken it more seriously. It was a mistake to feel sorry for such an abnormal woman and think that I had to protect you.”
“Th, that’s…”
Uguisu’s objection, mixed with sobs, was drowned out by my words.
“From the beginning, you were just a paranoid liar. You were deceiving me, weren’t you? You said you loved me, but you were the one who always hurt me the most. Listen carefully, I only married you out of pity . I was fooled by your delusions of being a tragic heroine, and I pitied you. I shouldn’t have married someone I didn’t even like!”
“That’s not… That’s not true, Sora-san, please.”
“What’s not true? I can’t deal with you anymore. Because of you, I can’t go out and have fun, I don’t have any free time, and I can’t rest because I’m always worried about your mood. How much of my life do you want to ruin?”
Even I felt sorry for myself, seeing how exhausted and desperate I had become. Uguisu looked at me and walked towards the kitchen in her underwear.
“Sora-san doesn’t love me anymore, does he?”
“It’s not anymore. There was never any love between us from the beginning. If you really loved someone, why couldn’t you respect them? Why did you hurt them? Why did you restrain them? You didn’t love me either. “
She took a knife, the kind you find in any household, from the kitchen shelf. Uguisu held the knife firmly in both hands and pointed it at her chest.
“…I understand. If you say so, I’ll die. If I die, you’ll be happy, won’t you?”
“Do whatever you want. You’ve used your life as a shield to bind me so many times… I told you, I’m tired of it. Die if you want.”
With those words, I left the house.
Left alone in the large living room, Uguisu stood frozen, the blade of the knife still pointed at her.
“…It’s okay, it’s okay. He’ll come back worried about me soon, just like he always has. Sora-san will understand my love, he’ll remember that I love him the most. Today was just a coincidence , he was just in a bad mood. The real Sora-san wouldn’t say such things, he didn’t mean it, he was just tired. But it’s not good to take it out on your beloved wife. But I’ll forgive him, because it’s Sora-san’s doing. I’m not a narrow-minded woman who can’t forgive a mistake or two. I can see that those words aren’t what Sora-san wanted to say. It’s not like him at all. Maybe someone told him to say it, like Suoh-san or Sekichou-san, or maybe everyone. They’ve been so persistent, trying to get my Sora-san to like them over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over again. Yes, I understand, that’s why Sora-san said things he didn’t mean. He was trying to protect me from them, to keep them from hating me. That’s right, that must be it. Oh, what a kind and clumsy man he is. But if he does that, I’ll be sad, and it must be hard for Sora-san to leave me. And yet, he played the villain for my sake. He didn’t t want to hurt me. That must be it, it was all an act. That’s right, because Sora-san would never do such a thing. Sora-san is my handsome prince.”
The footage ended with Uguisu muttering like she was delirious.